Clean-power company Bloom Energy surged early in the U.S. cash session after reporting earnings Tuesday after the close, raising its full-year revenue and margin guidance on rising demand from data centers and other commercial customers. 

The maker of solid oxide fuel cell systems, branded as Bloom Energy Servers, that generate electricity on-site for customers, posted a profit of $70.7 million, or 23 cents a share, compared with a loss of $23.8 million, or 10 cents a share, from the same quarter one year ago. 

On an adjusted basis, earnings came in at 44 cents per share in the first quarter, beating analysts’ estimates tracked by Bloomberg of 8.4 cents per share.

Here’s a snapshot of first-quarter earnings (courtesy of Bloomberg): 

Adjusted EPS 44c, estimate 8.4c

EPS 23c 

Revenue $751.1 million, estimate $535.3 million

• Product revenue $653.3 million, estimate $397.9 million
• Installation sales $25.9 million, estimate $49.2 million
• Service revenue $61.9 million, estimate $71.7 million
• Electricity revenue $9.90 million, estimate $14.1 million

Adjusted Ebitda $143.0 million, estimate $52.9 million

Adjusted net income $138.1 million, estimate $26.7 million

“We at Bloom are ushering in the era of digital power for the digital age. Bloom is rapidly becoming the standard and “go-to choice” for on-site power,” Bloom CEO KR Sridhar wrote in an earnings press release.

For the full year forecast, here’s what Bloom expects:

Sees revenue $3.4 billion to $3.8 billion, saw $3.1 billion to $3.3 billion, estimate $3.25 billion (Bloomberg Consensus)

Sees adj. gross margin about 34%, saw about 32%, estimate 31.9%v

Shares of Bloom jumped as much as 20% in the cash session to a new record high.

Wall Street analysts were broadly positive (commentary courtesy of Bloomberg):

Citi (neutral, PT raised to $281 from $229)

• Analyst Vikram Bagri sees the first quarter revenue beat as strong, driven by capacity expansions and product sales

• Sees second-quarter revenue rising on continued strong momentum, cost discipline and improving gross margins and operating leverage

• “International opportunities continue to progress, albeit at a measured pace amid a challenging geopolitical and energy backdrop, with the majority of AI‑driven power demand currently concentrated in the US”

Morgan Stanley (overweight, PT raised to $310 from $184)

• Analyst David Arcaro sees Bloom’s outlook as attractive with revenue and profit set to increase and margins continuing to expand

• “We believe the confirmation of the recent Oracle deal likely contributed to the increase, with at least 1.2 GW being delivered over 2026 and 2027, and the company also suggested broadbased strength across data center and C&I end markets”

• Sees manufacturing efficiencies improving gross margins

Jefferies (hold, PT raised to $207 from $187)

• Analyst Dushyant Ailani sees the guidance raise as positive with gross margins improving on cost optimization and productivity

• “BE is increasingly moving beyond the ‘bridge solution’ narrative, supported by its standalone microgrid deployment with Oracle and similar discussions with other customers”

• Sees Bloom reaching at least 2 GW of capacity by year-end 2026 as additions continue

Bloom peers, including Plug Power, FuelCell Energy, and Ballard Power Systems, also moved higher.

In a sweeping 6-3 decision issued today, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Louisiana’s congressional map with a second majority-Black district is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling in Louisiana v. Callais (No. 24-109) delivers a major victory for Republicans by sharply curtailing the Voting Rights Act’s ability to compel the creation of predominantly Black or Hispanic districts – a development that could help the GOP protect and expand its House majority in the 2026 midterms and beyond.

Writing for the Court, Justice Samuel Alito held that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, properly interpreted, did not require Louisiana to draw the additional majority-Black district in Senate Bill 8. Because the state’s use of race was not justified by a compelling interest, the map violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

A Major Reset of Voting Rights Law

Huge victory for GOP with big implications for race for House https://t.co/QRTl01bxt2

— Manu Raju (@mkraju) April 29, 2026

The decision does far more than resolve one Louisiana map. It fundamentally updates the legal framework for Voting Rights Act challenges that has been in place since Thornburg v. Gingles (1986). The Court made three critical changes that will make it significantly harder for plaintiffs to force race-conscious districting:

• Illustrative maps must be race-neutral: Plaintiffs can no longer draw “demonstration maps” that deliberately maximize majority-minority districts. Any alternative map must fully comply with all of a state’s legitimate, non-racial districting goals – including traditional criteria and the state’s partisan political objectives.
• Race must be disentangled from party: To prove political cohesion and racial bloc voting, plaintiffs must now control for partisan affiliation. Simply showing that Black voters and white voters support different candidates is no longer enough if the pattern tracks party preference rather than race.
• Focus on current intentional discrimination: The “totality of circumstances” analysis must center on evidence of present-day intentional racial discrimination in voting. Historical discrimination and generalized “societal effects” carry far less weight.

These changes align Section 2 more closely with the Fifteenth Amendment’s prohibition on intentional racial discrimination and the Constitution’s general bar on race-based government action.

SCOTUS issues opinion in Voting Rights Act case

6-3 strikes down Louisiana map along ideological lines

Likely means there will be one less Black opportunity district

BUT does not strike down Section 2 of VRA

Quick read is that only affects handful of districts right now https://t.co/8tR9kdS6ys

— Sam Shirazi (@samshirazim) April 29, 2026

Developing…

Summary

• Trump recently met this week with oil and gas executives at the White House to address energy fallout, and as oil pushes higher: Axios.

• Trump warns Iran to “get their act together” and to “get smart” – and for the second time writes “no more Mr. Nice Guy”.

• Trump in 4am Truth Social post: “Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!”

• Fresh White House statement indicates communication still open with Tehran, but still says “Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.”

*  *  *

Trump Huddles with Oil Execs: Axios

President Trump recently met this week with oil and gas executives at the White House to address the energy fallout from the Iran war, per fresh Axios reporting, as supply disruptions push prices higher and create both opportunity and risk for the industry. Among those attending were Mike Wirth of Chevron, along with senior officials including Susie Wiles, Scott Bessent, Steve Witkoff, and Jared Kushner.

A White House official said, “The president meets with energy executives frequently to get their feedback on domestic and international energy markets,” with discussions covering domestic production, Venezuela, oil futures, natural gas, and shipping. It should be noted that while Trump “huddles” with oil CEOs, Republicans in Congress are still too scared to so much as pass a simple War Powers Resolution, or to have real robust debate over the merits of the Iran War.

The Middle East supply shock is obviously driving up global crude and US gasoline prices, which sets up for huge implications for Republicans come next fall’s midterms. Oil prices have extended their multi-day rally, surpassing $116 a barrel:

Brent crude futures for June rose $4.24, or 3.81%, to $115.50 a barrel by 1255 GMT, climbing for an eighth day to the highest level since March 31. The June contract expires on Thursday and the more active July contract was up 3.86% at $108.43.

Oil Pushing Toward Iran War Highs

Earlier in the morning, Brent crude oil has neared $115 per barrel, driven by the ongoing Hormuz Strait blockade and standoff, and war fears – in a seventh straight session of gains.

This latest move higher follows Tuesday night’s WSJ report that the US plans to extend its blockade of Iranian ports, intensifying fears of prolonged disruption through the strategically critical Strait of Hormuz. 

As a reminder, the president has told aides and his staff that he’s prepared to implement an extended blockade:

President Trump has instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran, U.S. officials said, targeting the regime’s coffers in a high-risk bid to compel a nuclear capitulation Tehran has long refused.

In recent meetings, including a Monday discussion in the Situation Room, Trump opted to continue squeezing Iran’s economy and oil exports by preventing shipping to and from its ports. He assessed that his other options—resume bombing or walk away from the conflict—carried more risk than maintaining the blockade, officials said.

4am Truth Social

This isn’t exactly a ‘new’ threat, as it’s something he said on April 19 as well, but President Trump in a 4am Truth Social post warned Iran to “get smart soon” as the White House reviews military options for the Strait of Hormuz.

“Iran can’t get their act together. They don’t know how to sign a nonnuclear deal. They better get smart soon!” Trump wrote early Wednesday, alongside an image showing him with a weapon and the message “NO MORE MR. NICE GUY!”

Members of Trump’s national security team presented multiple options during a Situation Room meeting this week, including whether to increase or reduce the US military presence in the strait and whether to adopt a more aggressive operational posture, NBC News reported, citing an unnamed US official and a person familiar with the discussions. According to the WSJ Tuesday evening, the president has told aides and his staff that he’s prepared to implement an extended blockade.

WH still Communicating With Tehran

And yet, the White House says negotiators are still in communication with the Iranians, who are “struggling to sort out their leadership situation” amid the war. Trump on Tuesday claimed Tehran officials told him the country is in a “State of Collapse” – though obviously it’s highly dubious they would communicate that to him.

White House spokesperson Anna Kelly told media that Trump would only enter into an agreement with Iran that “puts US national security first” and that “He has been clear that Iran can never possess a nuclear weapon.” However, the Iranians themselves have made it clear they would never just transfer their enriched uranium out of the country. Their latest proposal has centered on lifting the blockade on the Strait of Hormuz first, and then leaving the nuclear issues for future negotiation after the war is resolved.

More Latest Developments

via Newsquawk

The drama over Kevin Warsh’s nomination as Trump’s pick for next Fed chair appears to be over.

Moments ago, Warsh won the backing of the Senate Banking Committee Wednesday in a 13-11 party-line vote, putting him on track to be confirmed by the full Senate before Jerome Powell’s term ends May 15, Bloomberg reproted. 

Warsh’s nomination had been held up by Republican Senator Thom Tillis until the Department of Justice agreed last week to drop (for now) a criminal probe into cost overruns in a renovation of the Fed’s Washington headquarters. Tillis, who saw the probe as “bogus” and a threat to the Fed’s independence on monetary policy, said in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he received assurances the department wouldn’t reopen the case unless the Fed’s inspector general, who is also reviewing the project, sends a criminal referral.

As expected, Democrats weren’t won over: Senator Elizabeth Warren warned that Trump is still intent on controlling the Fed; Democrats have also demanded an end to a legal pursuit of Fed Governor Lisa Cook.

“The stink of stagflation is in the air,” Warren said. She said confirmation of Warsh would help Trump dominate the Fed’s monetary policy. “Trump has not been subtle about his takeover,” she said.

The vote makes real the prospect of a Warsh-led Fed that promises the biggest shake up of the US central bank in years. Having raised the prospect of “regime change” as part of his bid to win Trump’s nomination, Warsh has promised to shrink the Fed’s $6.7 trillion balance sheet, establish a new framework for managing inflation and change how the central bank communicates with the public. He has, however, offered few details on how he might pursue each of these goals.

Warsh is almost certain to face heavy pressure from Trump over monetary policy. In a CNBC interview on April 21, the president said he’d be disappointed if Warsh didn’t cut rates as soon as he took office.

Meanwhile, Warsh has vowed to protect the Fed’s independence. In his hearing last week Warsh blamed the Fed for allowing inflation to surge following the Covid-19 pandemic. While he said high prices remain a problem for Americans, he also floated the idea of a new framework for dealing with persistent inflation, though didn’t offer specifics. He also steered clear of committing to a near-term path for interest rates and suggested Fed officials have made a habit of providing financial markets with too much guidance on where policy is headed.

The combination of Warsh’s calls for a smaller balance sheet, new ways to think about inflation and communication changes put Warsh in the spotlight to explain how he’ll defend the Fed’s independence, said EY-Parthenon Chief Economist Gregory Daco.

“Taken together, this points to a more centralized, less transparent and potentially more politically-exposed policy framework,” he said.

Earlier, Warsh and his wife, Jane Lauder, reported assets worth at least $192 million in financial disclosures filed as part of his nomination.  But his total net worth is likely much larger and makes him one of the wealthiest Fed officials in the central bank’s history. Bloomberg has estimated his wife’s net worth at $2.5 billion, many of which are market-dependent. Democratic lawmakers called for more scrutiny of Warsh’s assets, while Warsh has promised to quickly divest from certain funds for which he hasn’t disclosed the underlying assets, citing confidentiality agreements.

The U.S. is intensifying pressure on Iran and China across two fronts.

First, on the military side, The Wall Street Journal reported that President Trump told top aides to prepare for an extended U.S. naval blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a move that would strangle Tehran’s oil revenue.

Second, on the economic side, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control is warning financial institutions about sanctions exposure related to Chinese independent “teapot” refineries, particularly in Shandong Province, due to their continued purchases and refining of Iranian crude.

Taken together, the message from President Trump to Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent is very clear: Washington is squeezing Iran’s oil revenue at both ends of the supply chain, through a continued blockade of the Hormuz chokepoint that enables exports and the Chinese refining network.

“China purchases approximately 90 percent of Iran’s oil exports, with teapot refineries accounting for the majority of these imports. This revenue ultimately benefits the Iranian regime, its weapons programs, and its military,” Treasury explained in a press release, adding, “Some Chinese teapot refineries have used the U.S. financial system to conduct dollar-denominated transactions and procure U.S. goods.”

What OFAC is doing is urging banks to tighten controls, conduct enhanced due diligence on transactions involving China-based refineries, and communicate sanctions expectations to correspondent banks.

Treasury also imposed sanctions on 35 entities and individuals for their roles in Iran’s shadow banking sector.

The reason the Treasury singled out Shandong Province is that the area in China is a core hub for China’s independent refineries.

Efforts to end the US-Iran war, now entering the third month, have morphed from an air campaign against Tehran to an economic war with hopes that the Trump administration can economically squeeze Tehran into a favorable peace deal that includes winding down its nuclear program.

“Iran’s shadow banking system serves as a critical financial lifeline for its armed forces, enabling activities that disrupt global trade and fuel violence across the Middle East,” Bessent said in a statement, quoted by Reuters.

“Illicit funds funneled through this network support the regime’s ongoing terrorist operations, posing a direct threat to U.S. personnel, regional allies, and the global economy,” Bessent said, adding any institution that facilitated or engaged with these networks was at risk of “severe consequences.”

OFAC has already imposed about 1,000 sanctions on Iran-related individuals, ships, and aircraft as part of a campaign to exert maximum economic pressure on Iran’s shadow banking.

Brett Erickson, managing principal at Obsidian Risk Advisors, told Reuters that the Trump administration should go after Chinese banks that have supported Tehran.

“Washington keeps talking about waging a maximum pressure campaign, but it is still avoiding the one move that would actually matter,” Erickson said. “If you are not willing to target the Chinese banks propping up the regime in Tehran, you are not going for the jugular, you are running a charade.”

The U.S. economic pressure campaign on Tehran, as well as China, comes as Trump travels to Beijing next month to meet with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

Submitted by Julianne Geiger of OilPrice.com

Germany is hunting for solutions to reroute crude oil supplies to the PCK Schwedt refinery after Russia said it would halt Kazakh oil deliveries through the Druzhba pipeline starting May 1, with roughly 43,000 barrels per day (bpd) now at risk.

Berlin is now in talks with Poland over moving replacement barrels through the port of Gdansk, with potential deliveries flowing onward to Schwedt, the refinery that supplies much of eastern Germany, including Berlin, with fuels. The plant has become a recurring pressure point since Germany moved away from Russian crude, and this latest disruption exposes how little slack remains in the system.

Kazakhstan shipped 2.146 million metric tons to Germany through Druzhba last year, up 44% from 2024, with another 730,000 tons delivered in the first quarter.

Poland says it has the technical capacity to handle additional flows, but port access, shipping schedules, crude availability and refinery configurations all matter, too. Replacing pipeline crude with seaborne barrels is rarely a one-for-one swap.

The episode also revives an old vulnerability in European oil security in that the infrastructure can be diversified on paper and still remain concentrated in practice, with Druzbha still running through Russia.

Alternatives do exist for Schwedt, but they are costlier and more complicated. The refinery has increasingly leaned on crude arriving through Baltic routes and Germany’s Rostock port, but those channels are limited.

There is a bigger signal here for the oil market. What looks like a regional supply disruption adds to a broader premium around logistics security, not just crude supply. In Europe, barrels are one question. Moving them is another.

And that distinction matters increasingly for pricing, refinery margins, and the value of secure non-Russian supply routes.

Submitted by Charles Kennedy of OilPrice.com

The world’s top crude exporter, Saudi Arabia, is expected to slash its official selling prices (OSPs) for crude loading for Asia in June from the record-highs for May as the premiums of the Middle Eastern benchmarks eased this month.

Saudi oil giant Aramco is widely expected to announce in early May a reduction of the OSP of the flagship Arab Light crude by between $5 and $12 per barrel compared to the Oman/Dubai average, off which Middle Eastern producers price their crude going to Asia, a Reuters survey of industry sources showed on Tuesday.

The Arab Light grade could see its OSP falling to a premium of $7.50-$14.50 over the average of the Oman and Dubai benchmarks for June, compared to a record-high premium of $19.50 for loadings for Asia in May.

In early April, Saudi Arabia hiked the price of Arab Light loading for Asia in May to a record-high premium over the Middle Eastern benchmarks as the de facto closure of the Strait of Hormuz upended oil flows and roiled markets and prices.

The premium for May was the highest ever in Saudi pricing, although it was below the $40 per barrel premium over Oman/Dubai that some refiners and traders had expected.

Saudi Arabia typically announces around the fifth of each month its crude pricing for the following month and doesn’t comment on price changes.

The pricing announcement follows the monthly OPEC+ gatherings at which the producers, led by Saudi Arabia, decide how to maintain market stability.

For the June pricing, the Reuters survey participants expect all other grades to also see price reductions of between $5 and $12 per barrel in the premium to Oman/Dubai.

The wide gap of $7 per barrel, in the expectations of the market suggests that traders and refiners in Asia aren’t sure how Saudi Arabia would approach the June pricing, as the Strait of Hormuz is still closed and only the Yanbu port on the Red Sea is regularly shipping out Saudi light crude to international markets.

Fresh reporting in Reuters says that NATO leadership is mulling ending its practice of holding annual summits as the Trump presidency has “cast a long shadow” over such meetings and as member states are looking for “less drama”.

For example, at the 2018 summit Trump threatened to walk ⁠out after bitterly complaining over allies’ low defense spending. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general at the time, wrote in a recently published memoir, “Had he made good on his threat to leave ​in protest, we would have been left to pick up the pieces of a shattered NATO.”

Also, in 2019 he exited summit early while lambasting then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as “two-faced” after Trudeau was caught on a hot mike blasting Trump’s behavior.

One report recalls of the scene:

Footage emerged late on Tuesday that appears to show world leaders joking about Trump at the summit, which has been marked by sharp disagreements over spending and future threats, including Turkey’s role in the alliance and China, as well as a clash of personalities that triggered a flurry of incendiary language being deployed by leaders.

The video shows leaders including Trudeau, Johnson, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the Dutch prime minister, Mark Rutte, and Princess Anne at the Buckingham Palace event on Tuesday evening.

In audio caught on a nearby microphone, Johnson asks Macron: “Is that why he was late?” before Trudeau interjects: “He was late because he takes a 40-minute press conference off the top.”

Trudeau adds: “Oh, yeah, yeah yeah. He announced … ” before he is cut off by Macron, who speaks animatedly to the group. Macron’s back is to the camera and his words are inaudible.

After an edited cut in the film, the footage later shows an incredulous Trudeau telling the group: “You just watched his team’s jaws drop to the floor.”

In his second administration, President Trump’s fierce criticisms have only grown, especially related to lack of help in the Iran war and Hormuz Strait crisis, labeling the alliance a “paper tiger” and charging member states with being “free-loaders”.

One European diplomat expressed an increasingly common viewpoint among members: “Better to have fewer summits than bad summits,” the official said.

And, per Reuters: “Some diplomats and analysts have long argued that annual summits create pressure for eye-catching results that distracts from longer-term planning.”

The 2019 Trudeau hot mic incident:

.@JustinTrudeau, @EmmanuelMacron, @BorisJohnson and other VIPs shared a few words at a Buckingham Palace reception Tuesday. No one mentions @realDonaldTrump by name, but they seem to be discussing his lengthy impromptu press conferences from earlier in the day. (Video: Host Pool) pic.twitter.com/dVgj48rpOP

— Power & Politics (@PnPCBC) December 3, 2019

For now at least, NATO leadership is insisting it will be business as usual and these annual summits will proceed. “NATO will continue to hold regular meetings of Heads of State and Government, and between summits NATO Allies will continue to consult, plan and take decisions about our shared security,” a NATO official told Reuters. But Trump’s anti-NATO rhetoric is unlikely to cease anytime soon, setting up for more drama to come.

Authored by Mrigakshi Dixit via Interesting Engineering,

In a move toward fully autonomous warfare, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry plans to procure 25,000 unmanned ground vehicles by mid-2026. This initiative aims to replace human soldiers with robotic systems for all frontline logistics and double the 2025 deployment rate.

Reportedly, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov stated that the ultimate goal is to have 100 percent of frontline logistics handled by robotic systems.

The strategy is already yielding results. In March alone, Ukrainian forces logged over 9,000 missions using ground robots for everything from delivering ammunition to evacuating the wounded.

A key development in this tech surge is the formal codification of the Bizon-L logistics robot. 

$330 million invested

Following a meeting with domestic manufacturers, Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov announced a strategic shift to stabilize the industry by signing UGV contracts through 2027. 

This move supports Ukraine’s ambitious goal to transition 100% of frontline logistics to robotic systems, a transition already well underway.

These unmanned systems are proving vital for high-risk logistics and medical evacuations, insulating soldiers from the most dangerous aspects of frontline operations.

To streamline its defense supply chain, Ukraine has invested roughly $330 million (14 billion hryvnia) since January to deliver over 181,000 systems, including drones and electronic warfare units, via a direct digital procurement platform.

Central to this surge is the Bizon-L, a logistics robot that was recently codified under NATO standards.

The Bizon-L is a heavy-lifter designed for the mud and snow of the Donbas.

This high-capacity UGV can transport 300 kilograms (661 pounds) over a 50-kilometer range and is now cleared for use by both Ukrainian forces and international allies.

Utilizing a combination of Starlink satellite data and radio links protected by thermal shielding, the Bizon-L is stepping in to perform last-mile deliveries — tasks previously handled by soldiers who were frequently targeted by Russian FPV drones. 

Central to this surge is the Bizon-L, a logistics robot that was recently codified under NATO standards.

The Bizon-L is a heavy-lifter designed for the mud and snow of the Donbas.

This high-capacity UGV can transport 300 kilograms (661 pounds) over a 50-kilometer range and is now cleared for use by both Ukrainian forces and international allies.

Utilizing a combination of Starlink satellite data and radio links protected by thermal shielding, the Bizon-L is stepping in to perform last-mile deliveries — tasks previously handled by soldiers who were frequently targeted by Russian FPV drones. 

Read the rest here…